The Uganda Forum for Agricultural Advisory Services identified the AFAAS Virtual Social Networking Platform (VSNP) as one of the ways to deliver agricultural information to farmers through the extension advisors. The platform was recently upgraded to include a mobile friendly function that will help famers have their questions answered professionally. With the help of a simple mobile phone, extension workers will be able to network, interact, exchange information and share experiences with other extension workers and experts of different agricultural spheres globally.
The Direct delivery implies that extension workers registered on the platform will have direct access to information and also be able to interact with experts on the platform. This will be for registered members who have access to the internet. However, AFAAS is aware of the fact that most extension advisors in Uganda and Africa as a whole have little to intermediary knowledge on the use of technology such as platforms, and internet is a costly commodity by their standard. It is for this reason that AFAAS upgraded the VSNP to include a mobile friendly technology that all extension workers will access and still be able to interact with the rest of the extension workers the world over.
The mobile/ SMS function will work in such a way that the extension workers will send question that they encounter to a local number 0702 203938. This question will then be bounced off the to the global AFAAS network from where it will attract professional information that will be sent back to the extension worker on their mobile phone. This only requires is a very basic telephone which has the inbuilt SMS function and knowledge of the designated local number. With the SMS function, there will be interaction within a wide range of actors in Uganda.